The old chestnut says that April showers bring May flowers, but let's be honest -- in most parts of the country, it rains for months on end. In Baltimore, April is actually the driest month on the calendar, but it pours from May to October. Lanham, Md., native Mark Lutz, 31, started Employ the Rain in 2009 to take full advantage of that precipitation. His company recycles plastic and wooden barrels into rain barrels, which allow customers to capture the runoff and reduce their own water usage.

For Lutz, it's a green initiative that allows him to avoid the trappings of an office -- helping backyard gardeners grow healthier plants and flowers.

I was a communications major at the University of Maryland, kind of going through the motions, because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I ended up in sales, first selling hot packs at a mall kiosk, then later in corporate positions. Eventually, I ended up in litigation support, which is document management, filing and organizing for major lawsuits. That industry chewed me up and spit me out.

I was in D.C. and thought I was doing well, but I got the boot. I moved to Baltimore for a similar position, but it was shut down in the crappy economy. Since 2007, I'd been thinking about doing the rain barrel thing part time, but litigation support took up all of my time.

My girlfriend has a backyard garden, and I read a magazine article about rain barrels. I bought a whiskey barrel online, but it took me a week to install it because it wasn't customized to the yard. It's not as DIY friendly as the websites say it is. One of my original barrels is now my "marketing barrel" -- it's on the back of my truck with my phone number on it.